I’m fairly new to RPE and The Bridge, and I’m not very clear on how to handle these situations in my training:
For example, in sets of 5@6, 5@7, 5@8x3, assume you use the same weight for the RPE 8 sets, should the E1RM calculated only based on the weight used for @8 (top) set, ignoring the weights used for RPE lower than the top set?
However, for the sets of @8, due to short rest, or wrong estimate, if the weights are not the same across these 3 sets, which weight do you use to calculate this E1RM? To illustrate, you squat 310 lbs for the first set of @8, and it feels like a @9, so you would drop the weight to 295 lbs and get a @8. Do you use 295 lbs to calculate E1RM because it’s a “true @8”, or use 310 lbs because it’s closer to your maximal?
Am I just overthinking this, since E1RM is purely estimate and only provides a “ballpark” target for you?
This is my first time through the Bridge 1.0, so I’ll be curious to see other responses.
For your #1, yes, definitely base it off of the @8 sets.
As far as #2, what I’m doing is taking my best work set, which isn’t always my first work set, strangely enough. So if I do 4 work sets across, I may end up rating them @8.5, @8, @8, @9. I’ll use the @8 in calculating e1RM.
You are right in that sets at RPE 8 should be across and you shouldn’t have to drop weight. In this case I would use the 310 at RPE 9 for a 1rm estimation because it represents a less fatigued state. You are going to be more fatigued after that set at RPE 9 so a drop set would be less accurate in my opinion. Of course, in this example, since the RPE dropped to 8 on the drop set you could expect that the 1rms are close. In fact, on my calculator I get a 1rm of 371 for the 310 @ 9, and a 1rm of 365 for 295 @ 8 (sets of 5). If the drop set at 295 was also an RPE 9 the 310 at RPE 9 would definitely be more accurate.
It makes sense to use fatigue level to assess how “true” the RPE is. I’ve seen people on this forum suggesting dropping weight to maintain the same prescribed RPE if rest time is short due to time constraint. In that case, the first set would be the freshest set and the “truest” @8.
Keep in mind that there is some fuzz in RPE programming. There is no exact weight that is an @8, it’s more of a range of a couple percentage points. You also have to keep in mind that these things change day to day and week to week, I’ve had weeks my e1RM’s have gone down, only to rebound and hit PR’s the following week. Don’t put too much weight into the e1RM’s from any one individual session, what’s important is that it’s trending up over weeks and months. In general, when calculating an e1RM from one single session you want to go with whatever set you feel is most accurate. The less amount of reps in the set, the higher the RPE, and the fresher you are for that set the more reliable that set will be.